1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method, an image processing apparatus and an image processing program for processing an image of an original plate on which at least one original is placed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique for automatically determining the category of an original placed on an original plate and switching processing to be performed in accordance with the category of the original has been known. In this technique, appropriate processing is performed in accordance with the category of an original. Specifically, processing for photograph originals is performed for photograph originals, and processing for document originals is performed for document originals.
For example, a method for determining the category of an original in accordance with the size of each object placed on an original plate is known. In addition, for example, a method for creating a histogram of a brightness signal obtained from each object placed on an original plate and determining the category of an original in accordance with the histogram is also known. Furthermore, a method in which a user explicitly specifies the category of an original is also known.
In a case where the category of an original is determined in accordance with the size of an object, since originals having the same size but having different categories exist, the determination is not performed correctly. In addition, in a case where the category of an original is determined in accordance with a histogram, the determination might not be able to be performed, depending on the contents of the original. There is a problem in that in a case where the accuracy in the determination of the category of an original is reduced, after the determination of the category of an original is performed, processing, such as image processing on an image of the read original and processing for switching a format used for storing the image in a file after the image processing is performed, might not be able to be performed appropriately.
In a case where image analysis of an object is performed in order to achieve more appropriate image determination, since, in general, processing for determining the category of an original is complicated, a long time is required for the determination processing.